Samuel Pordage
Samuel Pordage (1633-1691?) was an English poet. Life Overview Pordage, son of a clergyman in Berkshire, was educated at Merchant Taylor's School, and studied law at Lincoln's Inn. He made various translations, wrote some poems, 2 tragedies, Herod and Mariamne (1673), and The Siege of Babylon (1678), and a romance, Eliana. He is best known by his Azaria and Hushai (1682), in reply to Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, distinguished from the other replies by its moderation and freedom from scurrility.John William Cousin, "Pordage, Samuel," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 306. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 20, 2018. Youth and education Portage, the eldest son of John Pordage by his 1st wife, was baptised at St. Dionis Backchurch, London, on 29 Dec. 1633. He entered Merchant Taylors' School in 1644, and at the trial of his father 10 years later he appears to have been a witness. In his title-pages he variously described himself as "of Lincoln's Inn" and "a student of physick." Career He was at 1 time chief steward to Philip Herbert, 5th earl of Pembroke, but he chiefly devoted himself to literary work.Aitken, 151. While residing with his father at the parsonage of Bradfield, Berkshire, in 1660 he published a translation from Seneca, with notes, called Troades Englished. About the same time he published Poems upon Several Occasions, by S.P., gent., a little volume which included panegyrics upon Charles II and General Monck, but which consisted for the most part of amatory poems, full of conceits, yet containing among them a few graceful touches, after the fashion of Robert Herrick. Pordage married about 1660 Dorcas, youngest daughter of William Langhorne, by whom he had a son, Charles, born in 1661, and other issue. When his father died in 1681 he left silver spoons to two of Samuel's children (Harl. MS. 1530, f. 34; will of John Pordage, P.C.C. 8 Cottle). In 1661 a volume appeared called Mundorum Explicatio, or the explanation of an Hieroglyphical Figure. … Being a Sacred Poem, written by S.P., Armig. This book, which was reissued in 1663, is attributed to Samuel Pordage by Lowndes and others; but its contents are entirely unlike anything else which he wrote. The writer of the unsigned preface to this curious work of over 300 pages says that the hieroglyphic "came into my hands, another being the author;" and there is a poetical "Encomium on J. Behmen and his interpreter J. Sparrow, Esq." It has been suggested that the real author was Pordage's father, a professed Behmenist. Mr. Crossley argues that there is no proof that the work is by either John or Samuel Pordage. Bishop Kennett, however, writing in 1728, attributed the work to Samuel. Possibly both John and Samuel Pordage had a share in the authorship of this "sacred poem." In 1661 Samuel Pordage published a folio pamphlet, Heroick Stanzas on his Maiesties Coronation. In 1673 his Herod and Mariamne, a tragedy, was acted at the Duke's Theatre, and was published anonymously. Elkanah Settle, who signed the dedication to the Duchess of Albemarle, said that the play, which was "little indebted to poet or painter," did not miss honours, in spite of its disadvantages, thanks to her grace's patronage. The principal parts in this rhymed tragedy, the plot of which was borrowed from Josephus and the romance of Cleopatra, were taken by Lee, Smith, and Norris. Langbaine says that the play had been given by Pordage to Settle, to use and form as he pleased.Aitken, 152. In 1678 appeared The Siege of Babylon, by Samuel Pordage of Lincoln's Inn, Esq., author of the tragedy of “Herod and Mariamne”. This play had been licensed by L'Estrange on 2 Nov. 1677, and acted at the Duke's Theatre not long after the production at the Theatre Royal of Nathaniel Lee's Rival Queens; and Statira and Roxana, the "rival queens," were principal characters in Pordage's rhymed tragedy, in which Betterton, Norris, and Mrs. Gwyn appeared. The story is based upon Cassandra and other romances of the day. In the dedication to the Duchess of York, Pordage said that Herod and Mariamne had hitherto passed under the name of another, while he was out of England; but, as her royal highness was so pleased with it, Pordage could not forbear to own it. Pordage brought out in 1679 the sixth edition of John Reynolds's Triumphs of God's Revenge against the sin of Murther; he prefixed to it a dedication to Shaftesbury. In 1681 he wrote a single folio sheet, A new Apparition of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's Ghost to the E. of D—— in the Tower, and the printer was obliged to make a public apology for the reflections on Danby which it contained. Between 1681 and 1684 he issued The Remaining Medical Works of … Dr. Thomas Willis … Englished by S.P., Esq. There is a general dedication to Sir Theophilus Biddulph, bart., signed by Pordage; and verses "On the author's Medico-philosophical Discourses," in all probability by him, precede the first part. Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel appeared in November 1681, and among the answers which it called forth was Pordage's Azaria and Hushai: A poem, 1682, published on 17 Janury, according to a contemporary note. In this piece Azaria was the Duke of Monmouth, Amazia the king, Hushai Shaftesbury, and Shimei Dryden; and the poem, so far from being, as it is sometimes called, a malignant attack on Dryden, is comparatively free from personalities. "As to truth, who hath the better hold let the world judge; and it is no new thing for the same persons to be ill or well represented by several parties." Some lines, too, were devoted to L'Estrange, who was called Bibbai. On 15 March 1682 Dryden brought out The Medal: A satire against sedition, an attack on Shaftesbury, and on 31 March Pordage published ‘The Medal Revers'd: A satyre against persecution,’ with an epistle, addressed, in imitation of Dryden, to his enemies, the tories. Pordage said he did not believe that the authors of Absalom and Achitophel and The Medal were the same, yet, as they desired to be thought so, each must bear the reproaches of the other. L'Estrange attacked Pordage in the Observator for 5 April 1682 on account of A brief History of all the Papists' bloudy Persecutions, calling him "limping Pordage, a son of the famous Familist about Reading, and the author of several libels," one against L'Estrange. Dryden, in the second part of Absalom and Achitophel, published in November, described Pordage as :Lame Mephibosheth, the wizard's son. In May John Oldham, in his Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal, had ridiculed Pordage, and in another Satire mentioned Pordage among the authors who had "grown contemptible, and slighted since." Besides the pieces already mentioned, Pordage is stated to have written a romance called Eliana, but the date is not given, and no copy seems known. Writing in 1691, Langbaine spoke of Pordage as lately, if not still, a member of Lincoln's Inn. The exact date of his death has not been ascertained. (A Samuel Pordage, a stranger, who, like the poet, was born in the parish of St. Dionis Backchurch in 1633, was buried there in 1668.) Publications Poetry *''Poems upon Several Occasions''. London: W.G., for Henry Marsh / Peter Dring, 1660. *''Heroick Stanzas on His Majesties Coronation''. London: Peter Dring, 1661. *''Mundorum Explication; or, An explanation of an hieroglyphical figure: A sacred poem by S.P.'' London: T.R., for Lodowick Lloyd, 1661, 1663. *''A New Apparition of S. Edmund-bery Godfrey's Ghost to the E. of D— in the Tower''. London: T. Benskinsin, 1681. *''Azaria and Hushai: A poem''. London: Charles Lee, 1682 **also published in Anti-Achitophel (1682) : three verse replies to Absalom and Achitophel by John Dryden (edited by Harold Whitmore). Gainesville, FL: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1961. *''The Medal Revers'd: A satyre against persecution''. London: Charles Lee, 1682. *''The Loyal Incendiary; or, The generous bontefieu: a poem occasioned by the setting fire to the Rye House''. London: Davis, 1684. Plays *''Herod and Mariamne: A tragedy''. 1673; London: William Cademan, 1673. *''The Siege of Babylon: A tragi-comedy''. London: Richard Tonson, 1678. Translated *Lucius Anneus Seneca, Troades Englished. London: W.G., for Henry Marsh / Peter Dring, 1660. *Thomas Willis, The Remaining Medical Works. London: T. Dring / C. Harper / J. Leigh / S. Martyn, 1681. *Thomas Willis, Two Discourses Concerning the Soul of Brutes. London: Thomas Dring, 1683. Edited *John Reynolds, The Triumph of God's Revenge against Murther. J. Bennet, for T. Lee, 1679. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Samuel Pordage, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 6 2016. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Sep. 6, 2016. Notes External links ;Poems *:[http://spenserians.cath.vt.edu/TextRecord.php?action=GET&textsid=33598 from Mundorum Explicatio] ;About *Samuel Pordage (1633-1691 ca.) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 *Samuel Pordage: Obscured by Clouds, 1661 * Pordage, Samuel Category:1633 births Category:17th-century deaths Category:English poets Category:People from Bradfield, Berkshire Category:People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Category:English male poets Category:17th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Mystic poets Category:Poets Category:Christian mystics